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Karen Wetterhahn

updated Nov 25, 2011 by Steven Gilbert

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Steven G. Gilbert
Lead author: Steven G. Gilbert

Overview

In 1996, Dartmouth College professor and toxic chemical specialist Dr. Karen E. Wetterhahn was fatally poisoned by dimethylmercury, she died June 8, 1997. The compound, which was being used merely to calibrate her instruments, seeped unnoticed through her protective glove. Symptoms of the poisoning did not arise until six months later when she seriously ill, at which the fatality of the poisoning was irreversible. The accident led to new standards for protective equipment when handling toxic substances and a renewed call to eliminate production and use of dimethylmercury.


References

A Tribute to Karen Wetterhahn - Center for the Environmental Sciences at Dartmouth

Wetterhahn - NIEHS

Clarkson, T. W. (2002). "The Three Modern Faces of Mercury". Environmental Health Perspectives, 110 Suppl 1, 11-23. (EHP on line) (accessed: 3 Aug 2005).

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